The Woes of Padma Patil
by Unexpected-Adventures
Summary: After her sister was sorted into Gryffindor in their First Year of Hogwarts, Padma Patil has felt alone without her company. But there is only one person she blames for this: Lavender Brown. A Short Story for Round 1 of Quidditch League Writing Competition!


**This is a short story I wrote for Round 1 of the Quidditch League Writing Competition I am currently in.  
I am Chaser 2 for the Caerphilly Catapults!**

**Pairing: Padma & Lavender (Enemies Relationship)  
Prompts: Mirror & Dialogue: _"Ahhh, nostalgia. How sweet you are."_**

* * *

Padma Patil stood amongst a group of small nervous eleven-year-olds in front of the Great Hall, watching silently as Professor McGonagall called each of the First Year's names.

"Patil, Padma!" Professor McGonagall called sternly.

Padma's heart dropped at the sound of her name. Her twin sister, Parvati, gave her a small shove and smiled encouragingly at her. Taking a deep breath, Padma approached the small wooden stool and sat down, shaking with nervousness. She felt Professor McGonagall place the old battered hat onto her head, and it slipped down in front of her eyes.

Padma waited anxiously for the hat to say something, like it had for the other First Years, and not a moment too soon the hat had made its decision: "Ravenclaw!"

The table of blue and bronze cheered for their new addition as Padma slipped off the stool and ran down to join them, beaming.

"Patil, Parvati!" McGonagall called again, the moment Padma had taken her seat. Her sister, slightly more confident than her, strode up the steps and sat on the stool, waiting patiently for the hats verdict: "Gryffindor!"

Padma frowned in confusion. _Why wasn't Parvati in Ravenclaw as well?_

She watched as her sister smiled and gracefully walked over to the Gryffindor table, whose occupants had all cheered as they welcomed another First Year. Parvati turned to the person next to her, a pale girl with curly blonde-brown hair, to shake her hand and introduce herself.

Out of pure spite Padma found herself glaring at the girl now talking and laughing with her sister. _I should be sitting with Parvati – not her!_ Thinking bitterly, she saw the girl turn towards her, apparently noticing Padma's stares. The girl, recognizing this was Parvati's sister, raised her eyebrows in triumph and returned Padma's malice glare, then continued to talk to Parvati as if nothing had happened.

The excitement Padma had first felt on her trip to Hogwarts quickly disappeared when she realised this was the first time she had been separated from her twin since their birth – and it certainly would not be the last.

* * *

The Gryffindor and Ravenclaw Third-Years sat in the musky Divinations classroom waiting for Professor Trelawney to make her usual dramatic appearance. Padma shared a table with her fellow Ravenclaw Mandy Brocklehurst, and looked extremely bored. _Why, in the name of Rowena Ravenclaw, did I choose this subject?_

Right on cue, Professor Trelawney appeared out of a conjured cloud of mist, looking around at her students theatrically. Two Gryffindor girls sitting right at the front of the room let out "Ooh's," in awe of Professor Trelawney, and Padma rolled her eyes. Like usual, her sister Parvati shared a table with _Lavender Brown_, who she had become close with ever since they had first met during the Sorting.

Padma looked on in disapproval as Parvati and Lavender continued to stare at Professor Trelawney in admiration and break out into applause whenever she 'predicted' something. Padma didn't care for Divination, finding it more like a guessing game than a proper subject. The only reason she had chosen it was so that she could be with her sister. But of course, _Lavender_ had chosen the subject as well; leaving Padma abandoned at the back of the classroom each lesson.

"Padma!" Parvati cried over to her sister and beckoned for her to join them. Padma smiled a little and was about to walk over to her when Lavender grabbed Parvati's arm and directed her attention to the crystal ball in front of them that Trelawney was now gazing mystically into. Sitting back down with a sour expression on her face, Padma glared at Lavender Brown, who turned around and smiled mockingly at her, before turning her back on Padma.

_If Parvati thinks I'm going anywhere near that-_ Lavender_, then she's wrong!_

* * *

Padma walked briskly along the empty corridors of Hogwarts, having just left the library after a long day of study. Even though she had passed her O. with flying colours, she was now studying even harder in her Sixth-Year. This also helped to take her mind off her sister and _Lavender Brown_, who she had just seen giggling like little girls as Ronald Weasley passed them.

_Lavender Brown… what a complete bitch! And now she's making my sister act like an idiot in front of that Weasley boy…_

Her bitter thoughts took over her mind and she turned down the wrong corridor, accidently ending up in an empty classroom.

"Oh, great," she sighed, looking around the room and realizing she had taken a wrong turn.

Padma was about to leave the room when something caught her eye – a mirror. She walked curiously over to the corner that held a full body mirror bordered with beautiful gold patterns. Along the top of the mirror were the words: _Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi_.

Thinking that the writing must be in some ancient language like Latin, she raised her wand and approached the mirror cautiously, expecting to find something odd. But when she looked into it she only saw her own reflection. Or was there something more to it?

"Parvati?" she whispered in confusion, seeing her sister appear in the mirror by her side. Padma quickly turned around, assuming her sister was behind her, but she wasn't there. Watching carefully, she saw in the mirror her sister putting a loving arm around her shoulder. They looked exactly how they did now, although Padma looked a lot happier than she felt. There was only one difference that stood out to her. Parvati, instead of wearing a gold and maroon tie, was wearing the same uniform as Padma – the Ravenclaw uniform.

Padma stared longingly at the mirror, willing it to be true that her sister had also been sorted into Ravenclaw.

"Ahhh, nostalgia. How sweet you are," she muttered to herself, hurriedly wiping tears from her face. She broke her gaze from the mirror and stalked out of the room without looking back.

A white-hot rage was forming in the pit of her stomach. Lavender Brown had stolen her best friend from her, her sister. She_ hated_ Lavender Brown.

* * *

"Padma! Watch out!" Parvati cried as she blocked a curse from hitting her sister. She sent a well-aimed spell back at the death eater and looked worriedly at Padma, who was slumped exhaustedly against a wall.

They had been fighting against the death eaters to protect Hogwarts for what felt like an age, and it seemed like they were no closer to victory than they had been a few hours ago.

"I have to find Lavender!" Parvati cried, and Padma turned to glare at her sister.

"I will nothelp you find – _her!_" Padma spat, thinking bitterly of Lavender Brown and all she had done to her during their years at Hogwarts.

"What is it you two have against each other?" Parvati shouted over the sound of repelling curses and screams.

"She stole you from me, Parvati!" Padma told her, not for the first time, "You left me to be with that _bitch!_"

"Lavender is my best friend!" Parvati said, tears welling in her eyes.

"You never saw the looks she gave me when you weren't looking!" Padma said angrily, "She was happy that she had you all to herself!"

"She would never do that!" Parvati shook her head in disbelief that her friend would purposely split up her and her sister.

"But she did. And she's still doing it!" Padma cried, and walked away from her sister huffily and out into the entrance courtyard.

The scene was petrifying; giant spiders covered the grounds, trolls were swinging their clubs violently and Hogwarts students and teachers fought hard against death eaters. But Padma hardly noticed. Still furious with her sister she did not stop walking until she reached the end of the courtyard and she heard a scream to the left of her.

"No!" a curse came flying and knocked a man back into the wall unconscious. Padma stared in awe as she saw Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley and Harry Potter fly past her and down the stairs to the boatyard.

She looked over curiously to whom Hermione's curse was defending and stared in shock.

"Lavender?" she muttered and walked over to the body that the man had been attacking.

Lavender Brown lay on the floor covered in blood, a single arm still twitching in life. Padma stared at the body of the person she hated more than anyone else in the world, and a malicious smile appeared on her pretty face.

Leaving Lavender Brown to die, Padma turned away and walked off in satisfaction, thinking that now no one would stand between her and her sister.


End file.
